American League Rookie of the Year Voting Results

As stated earlier, Trout's ROY victory was a foregone conclusion. What remained was to see where everyone else stacked up behind him.

Trout became the eighth player in the American League to receive all of the first-place votes, as he was the first rookie ever to register at least 30 home runs and 30 stolen bases in the same season.

Trout led the majors with 49 stolen bases and 129 runs scored. Add to that a league-leading OPS+ of 171 and you have a player who deserved a unanimous vote.

Oakland Athletics outfielder Yoenis Cespedes would have been a worth ROY winner as well—had it been any other year.

Cespedes hit .292 on the season with 23 HR, 82 RBI and a .356 OBP.

To give a better idea of Cespedes' impact on the A's, consider this—the A's winning percentage with Cespedes in the lineup was a resounding .641. In the 34 games Cespedes was out of the lineup, the A's won only 34.1 percent of their games.

Cespedes received 19 second-place votes and six third-place votes to finish second behind Trout.

Texas Rangers pitcher Yu Darvish made the transition from Japan fairly well. Darvish posted a 16-9 record with a 3.90 ERA and 221 strikeouts.

For his efforts, Darvish picked up nine third-place votes and 46 overall points to finish in third place.

However, Harper broke into the majors as a 19-year-old, becoming just the second teenager ever to hit 20 home runs (Tony Conigliaro, 1964). It's important to note that Harper was drafted as a catcher, yet just two years later, he impressed just about everyone with his defensive skills in the outfield.

Harper showed flashes of the five-tool skills that experts have been touting ever since first viewing him in travel leagues when he was 16 years old.

Frazier's value to the Reds certainly can't be understated, and Miley was exceptional in his first season, too.

However, Harper was ultimately the right choice here. The talent was evident, and his production was equally as impressive. The vote was close, as it should have been. But in the end, voters got it right.

Doug Mead is a featured columnist with Bleacher Report. His work has been featured on the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, SF Gate, CBS Sports, the Los Angeles Times and the Houston Chronicle.